Hummimg Bird Cupcakes

I feel bad for not having posted in over a month. Christmas is a crazy busy time, full of quick bites and bad eating. I haven't made a lot of new recipes, and I also gained weight! Ugh. That's what I get. But it's a new year. Time to re-commit to healthy eating and loosing weight.

I joined a group called Winnipeg Vegan Meetup. I'm really excited about it. They meet once a month, and I don't really know any other vegans in Winnipeg, so I think the support will be great. The day after I joined, I saw a post from a girl trying to get a group together for weight loss. I took it as a sign from the gods that this is something I should be involved in. My shyness and laziness fought me on it, but I thought this would be the perfect way to make myself more accountable. I messaged her and later that day I was in a stranger's home looking over cookbooks and vegan weight loss books. I have to say that I was pretty scared that they were going to be crazy fundamentalist people that would judge me for my more "Veganist" approach to becoming a vegan. But they were all down to earth, good people. I found myself surprisingly comfortable with them. A lot of us confessed to emotional eating, which really does seems to be the basis for a lot of weight problems with a lot of people. I even opened up about the trying year I had, which included changing over to a mostly vegan diet just months before getting legally separated. You want to talk about emotional eating?! But there was a good sense of camaraderie, of knowing where others in the group are coming from and I'm even more pumped than ever.

SO, to start off the new year of healthy eating and weight loss, I give you : CUPCAKES!!

Okay, so not very healthy, but you know what? I don't believe in deprivation. (Obviously) And I made these cupcakes for New Years, so when it's time to party, it's time to eat cake!

My mom got me a new vegan cookbook for Christmas:

I love this author and the stuff really is easy.

From the cookbook Vegan Celebrations by Alicia C Simpson:
Hummingbird Cupcakes
3 c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
1 c vegan margarine softened
2 c sugar
In another large bowl cream together margarine and sugar with electric mixer till smooth in consistency.
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp rice, soy, oat or almond milk
Beat into bowl with the margarine.
1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
1 c mashed ripe bananas
1 c crushed pineapple
1 c chopped pecans
1 c shredded unsweetened coconut

Mix well into the bowl with margarine. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients one cup at a time.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Cover with Cream Cheese Frosting.

1 pkg of vegan cream cheese.

1 tbsp soy milk

1 tsp vanilla

Add icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time till desired consistency is reached. About 4 cups.

I added half a cherry on top, cause gee whiz, I think that looks cute.